Remember 'Neil Jacob Pedersen,' mom says at DWI killer's sentencing

The 13-year-old Sylvan Beach boy who was killed while riding his bicycle in May was more than just the latest victim of a drunk driver.

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Uticaod

Posted Dec. 20, 2013 at 4:07 PM

Posted Dec. 20, 2013 at 4:07 PM

UTICA

The 13-year-old Sylvan Beach boy who was killed while riding his bicycle in May was more than just the latest victim of a drunk driver.

He was Neil Jacob Pedersen – a real person, with a real life and future that was abruptly cut short by someone else's selfish mistake, and whose family and friends will now never be the same, an Oneida County Court judge explained Friday.

"I think it's important to remember his name was Neil Jacob Pedersen," Judge Michael L. Dwyer said, taking note of how many times Neil's mother mentioned her son's full name moments earlier as she addressed the boy's killer, 53-year-old Gary Svecz.

In cases like this, Dwyer explained, it's much too easy to refer to these lost lives as nameless "victims," and "it kind of insulates all of us from the pain the family is going through."

Before Svecz, of Forest City, Pa., was sentenced to six to 18 years in state prison for aggravated vehicular homicide, Neil's mother, Valerie Pedersen, spent more than 30 minutes explaining just how real her son's life was – and how tragically his life had ended.

"You're a thief for everything you stole from Neil and I by drinking and driving … the pure joy of having my son be a part of my life, and the list goes on," Pedersen said.

While the law might call Neil's death an "aggravated vehicular homicide," the boy's mother said those words don't do justice for how Neil died.

"Gary Svecz murdered my 13-year-old son," she said, by making the deliberate decision to drink and drive that May 29 night before running over Neil on Vienna Road and then attempting to drive away.

Since Svecz's own nephew was killed years ago in Florida by a hit-and-run driver, Pedersen believed that Svecz would have learned a lesson.

"One would think he would have made sure he would never find himself drinking and driving, let alone leaving the scene," Pedersen said.

Svecz's attorney, James McGraw, made clear that it was never Svecz's intent to harm anyone the day he chose to drive drunk. He had a blood-alcohol level of 0.27 percent, which is more than three times the legal limit.

Svecz then turned around and faced Neil's family members who filled two rows of courtroom seating. Reading from prepared remarks, Svecz said he prays everyday that Neil's family, friends and everyone involved will be able to cope with what he has done.

"I will feel remorse every day for the rest of my life," Svecz said. "I am deeply sorry."